


Book Covers

by shadowsamurai



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-21
Updated: 2012-06-21
Packaged: 2017-11-08 06:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/440218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsamurai/pseuds/shadowsamurai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An epilogue for Season 1, Episode 7 'The War Prayer'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Book Covers

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm just borrowing things for a while and I promise I'll put everything back exactly how I found it when I've finished. Well, almost exactly how I found it. ;)

B5-B5-B5-B5-B5-B5

After Sinclair had made sure Biggs was logged in for transport, he left the loading of the prisoners in the capable hands of the security staff, under the watchful eye of Lieutenant Commander Ivanova.

As he passed G'Kar, Delenn and Shaal Mayan, Sinclair nodded curtly but didn't make eye contact with any of them. Delenn could guess why, and it was an issue she needed to address straight away.

"If you will excuse me for a few moments," she said.

Shaal Mayan looked at her old friend. "If everything alright, Delenn?"

"Yes. Just a small thing I need to take care of." Delenn looked at G'Kar. "I wonder, Ambassador, if I might ask you to keep Shaal Mayan company until her transport is ready to leave."

G'Kar looked at Delenn for a moment before banging his fist against his chest. "I would be honoured."

"Delenn, there really is no need," Shaal Mayan protested.

"Do this for me. Please," Delenn asked.

Shaal Mayan sighed and smiled. "If you insist. And if it will not inconvenience Ambassador G'Kar."

"It will be my pleasure," G'Kar said.

Delenn inclined her head. "Thank you." With that, she turned and headed after the Commander. But when she turned into the corridor, he had disappeared.

Thinking Sinclair could not have gone far, Delenn headed quickly to the Observation Dome. But there she was greeted by one of the technicians, who kindly told her Commander Sinclair hadn't been there for some time. When asked if she wanted them to locate him, Delenn politely declined.  
The garden was empty of people as well, and there was only one last place she thought Sinclair would be. And while she was loath to disturb him in his quarters, Delenn felt the matter she wished to discuss with him would not wait until morning.

Delenn knew where his quarters were, of course, but she always felt a small tingle of apprehension whenever she had to travel there, a sense that had been heightened by the recent attacks on aliens.

Sinclair had just finished tugging his jacket off when he heard the door chimes. Sighing and closing his eyes, he turned his head to the door and said, "Come in."

Somehow he wasn't surprised when Delenn walked in. "Commander, I realise this must be an inconvenient time…."

Sinclair held his hand up. "Please, Ambassador, whatever it is, can't it wait until morning?"

Delenn stared at him with an unblinking gaze. "No, Commander, it cannot."

He sighed and tried to force the growing headache to the back of his mind. "Alright. What can I do for you?"

"It is I who must ask something of you," Delenn replied, not looking at him. "I must…apologise, Commander, for my judgement of you. I should have known you were acting in such a peculiar way for a reason. It was most unlike you and I could not understand why."

"An unfortunate but necessary ruse," Sinclair said, smiling slightly. "We would have had trouble catching them otherwise."

"I realise that now."

"You said you had something to ask of me, Delenn. What is it?"

"I must ask…for your forgiveness, Commander," she said quietly.

Sinclair's smile grew, warming his dark eyes. "There's no need. I'll admit, I thought that after all this time, you knew me better than that."

"I suppose it shows that we still have a lot to learn about each other," Delenn replied, finally looking at him. As she stared, she was surprised how warm his eyes were. If only she could tell him the truth….

"We have a saying on Earth," Sinclair said. "'Don't judge a book by its cover'."

Delenn frowned slightly. "I do not understand."

"Don't judge someone by the way they look or act," Sinclair explained. "Take G'Kar, for example. He is a warrior, but he has the soul of a poet at times."

Delenn smiled. "An apt description, but perhaps not one he would like to hear."

"I suspect not, but that doesn't stop it from being true." Sinclair's expression turned serious. "The humans and the Minbari believe they know what the other race is like. We've all judged each other already, but not all humans or Minbari think or act the same way."

"I think I understand now. I must try to remember that phrase," Delenn said, rising. "I will take my leave of you now, Commander. And thank you for being so understanding."

"I wouldn't be a good commander if I wasn't," Sinclair replied honestly. "Good night, Ambassador." He bowed slightly.

Delenn returned the gesture. "Good night, Commander."

Sinclair stood staring at the door for a while after she had left, undoing the cuffs of his shirt and then the first couple of buttons. Then, on a hunch, he told the computer to contact Ops.

"Is something wrong, Commander?" Ivanova asked, her brow furrowing in worry as her face appeared on the screen.

Sinclair allowed himself to smile. "Not at all, Lieutenant Commander. Just checking there weren't any problems."

Ivanova rolled her eyes and didn't even try to hide it. "You've been off duty less than half an hour, sir. What could possibly have gone wrong in that time?"

"This is Babylon 5," he answered.

"Good point. Anyway, if you were here, you would know everything is perfect."

"I would be there, but I have this stubborn second in command who insisted on taking this shift, even though she'd only just finished one," Sinclair said.

"I have good reasons," Ivanova replied.

"Such as?"

"The more double shifts I pull, sir, the more entitled to time off I will be when I choose to take it."

Sinclair tried to look serious and suspected he was failing miserably. "And when might that be, Lieutenant Commander?"

"The next time Miss Sakai visits you," Ivanova replied after pretending to think about it.

Sinclair couldn't help it; he laughed. "Alright, Ivanova, you win."

She looked at him with a deadpan expression. "Oh, goodie."

Sinclair sobered. "Are you okay, Susan? I mean really."

Ivanova had recognised the shift in the Commander's expression, and the way his eyes changed from laughing to worried. "Yes, sir, I'm fine."

"If…."

"I know where you are," she finished before Sinclair had started the sentence properly. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he replied, his eyes sparkling. "Just remember it when you decide to take time off next."

"I -" Ivanova hesitated. "I thought I knew him, sir. I wouldn't have suspected if Garibaldi…." She smiled grimly. "I guess it goes to show you can never judge a book by its cover."

Sinclair's answering smile was soft and reassuring. "No, you can't. I'll relieve you in six hours, Susan. And no arguments."

Ivanova nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll link in if there's anything serious to report."

"Alright." Sinclair lifted his arm, about to turn the comm network off.

"And, sir?"

"Yes?"

"I wouldn't plan on wandering around the station like that if I was you. Tongues would start to wag." Without waiting for a reply, Ivanova signed off, leaving Sinclair to glare at the computer while trying, again, not to laugh.

FIN


End file.
